1. Technical Field
The present subject matter relates to tools. More specifically, the present subject matter relates to a tool for seating a tubeless tire on a rim.
2. Description of Related Art
Many tires for automobiles, trucks and other equipment are designed to be mounted on wheels or rims without using a tube. The tire may be impervious to air with a bead around the inner edges of the tire designed to press against a lip of the rim to create an air-tight seal so that the combination of the tire and rim may be able to hold pressurized air or other gases. The rim may include a valve stem that may be used to inflate the tire.
After a tire is first mounted on a rim, the bead of the tire may not press tightly against the lip of the rim so that no air-tight cavity is created. In some cases, especially for smaller tires, enough air may be injected through the valve stem to create a pressure differential between the air inside the tire and the outside air so that, even though air may be escaping between the tire and the rim, the bead of the tire is pressed against the rim to create a seal. This may be referred to as seating the tire on the rim. Seating the tire on the rim allows the tire to be pressurized. But in some cases, especially with larger tires, it is just not possible to seat the tire by injecting air through the valve stem of the rim.
It is well known in the art that it may be possible to blow a high volume of air between the rim and the bead of the tire, creating the pressure differential between the pressure of the air in the tire and the outside air pressure, thereby seating the tire on the rim. Devices to accomplish this generally include a large, yet portable, pressurized air tank with a valve leading to a discharge barrel. The discharge barrel is typically a solid, leakproof metal tube rigidly connected to extend from the tank. The tank and discharge barrel may be positioned to blow a high volume of air from the pressurized air tank into the tire. The tank of conventional devices must be sized to hold enough air at a high enough pressure to expand the tire against the rim, and then completely fill the volume of the tire to a pressure greater than the atmospheric pressure in order to seat the tire against the rim. This may lead to a large unwieldy air tank and/or dangerously high pressures to accomplish this for large tires.